Roads agency Sanral has scrapped plans to construct a toll-road on the N2 Wild Coast Highway, it emerged on Tuesday.
Chairman of the provincial transport portfolio committee Mxolisi Kaunda said a decision not to construct a toll-road was taken at a recent strategic meeting in Cape Town.
Kaunda said KwaZulu-Natal was already over-tolled and adding more toll-roads would “overburden” the province.
The proposed N2 Wild Coast toll-road was supposed to stretch from the Gonubie interchange near East London, Eastern Cape, to the Isipingo interchange, south of Durban.
Transport MEC Willies Mchunu welcomed the decision.
Placing a toll road in Isipingo would have had a negative impact on poor communities and workers from the South Coast who commuted to Durban or Isipingo daily, he said.
“As the government we have always said that putting more toll-gates in the Durban area will cause further financial hardship for commuters and slow down economic growth.” -Sapa